Chapter 61

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As soon as the elevator door opened, Norman stomped his way towards Carry's apartment and began to bang his fist on the door. "Carry, Lucy! It's me! Open the door!"

"Norman?" he heard his ex-wife across the hallway who was walking up to her apartment. "Norman, what are you doing here?"

"Where's Lucy? She's not answering the door."

"Never mind her. What are you doing here anyway?"

"I want to know who she was dating."

"Dating? Lucy isn't dating anyone."

"She just confessed that she was dating an older man the last time she visited me."

"What are you talking about? She never mentioned dating any old man."

"Where is Lucy?"

"She's inside, I'm telling you."

"Let me see her right now!"

"Are you crazy? I want you out of my sight."

"If you don't tell me where Lucy is right now, I'm going to get you arrested for child abandonment."

"What are you threatening me for? It's after 8 pm. Where else would she be?"

"Then why isn't she answering the door?"

"She's probably asleep or something."

"Carry, where is my daughter?"

"Oh, now you care. Now you care about her. I don't recall you caring about her when you just dumped her on me!"

"Tell me where she is or I'm calling the police!"

"You must be kidding! I'm telling you she's in there. Alright fine, come in." As as soon as she unlocked the door, he shoves her out of the way and barged in. "Hey, that's trespassing," she said but he ignored her as he surveys the apartment.

"Lucy! It's your father!"

"She's probably asleep, you idiot!"

After a few moments, he returned to the living room, "She's not here."

"What are you saying? She must be in her room."

"She's not in any of the two rooms."

"It's past eight, where else would she be?"

"See for yourself."

Carry proceeded into Lucy's room but upon finding it vacant, she rushed into her own room, and then finally the kitchen. "Is she staying with you?" She asked him upon returning to the living room.

"If she was, I wouldn't be here in the first place!"

"She's supposed to be here! Where else would she be? Was she taken? Was she kidnapped?"

"That may be the case. She told me she was dating a college boy. Who knows what he's planning to do to her."

"This can't be happening!"

"And what about you? You're supposed to be taking care of her!"

"What about me!? What about you? You only have to see her on the weekends. I have to be here all week to take care of her."

"Have you been taking care of her?"

"Of course, no help from you."

"Then why did she say you are ignoring her? Why did she cry saying you don't love her!"

"What are you talking about?"

"The last time she visited me, she kept saying about how she's not loved and nobody cares about her, and then told me that she was dating a college student. Why didn't you put a stop to this?"

"She never told me anything like that!"

"As if she would. But then again, considering you were probably whoring yourself out there, I bet you brought a man in and he groomed Lucy into running away with him!"

"No, impossible. I never bring any man home with me!... sometimes."

"You disgust me! I have no time for this!"

As he was leaving her apartment, "Where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm going to look for Lucy!"

"You should call the police."

"I already did, but I'm not just going to sit around and lament everything that has happened to me. I'm going to fix everything!"

After taking his leave and slamming the door, Carry sat down on the couch in a panic. "It's not my fault. She should have stayed home. What is she doing dating? She's only... what... five, six years old. How old is she again?"

–

"A restaurant on the top floor," Margaret commented as sat down next to a rather large window marveling at the exquisite restaurant.

"It opened a few months ago. It's amazing, isn't it?"

"I've never heard of it. The view of the city from here is so beautiful."

"But the view isn't the only thing. Try the food, you're going to love it."

"You come here often?"

"My first time, actually, but I've had a sample of it some time ago when Wendy brought some over."

"Wendy hid this secret from me, I can't believe her. I outta scold that girl for not letting me in."

"Oh, yeah, sure."

"Actually, if you'll excuse me, I have to freshen myself up."

"Go ahead."

As soon as Margaret was out of sight, he pulled out his phone. Opening up Google chat where the many messages left by Lucy were waiting for her.

_You probably already deleted the app so I guess you'll never read this, but I figured that I might as well tell you my real feelings. I meant what I said earlier. I'm sure you know what I mean, and I just can't leave it like this. Johan, I really do love you, and I know that you love me. We're destined to be together.

I know that sounds childish, and as you said I'm still just a kid, but I liked it back when you didn't thought of me as one. I never once believed you thought of me as just some kid. You treated me with respect, with kindness, and I'm sure that's how you really felt about me.

You kept saying to talk to my parents, but I couldn't. They just don't care about me. Not at all. They're too selfish to care about anyone else other then their own interest. I bet they don't even know I'm waiting at a train station moving away to another city on my own, that's how selfish they are. But you really did care about me. Not in a way that felt like an adult trying to make some kid feel better like my previous teachers, or a friend who said things to make me feel better and never contact me ever again. I really did feel that you truly cared about me so much. I swore you were going to take me away from this horrible life I am going through.

I felt cheated by you. I felt betrayed. I felt that you just used me. But that's not true because I really did felt your loneliness. You're just like me, Johan. I don't know about your past because you just won't talk about it, but I can sense it.

Maybe you really were uncomfortable and didn't want to be with me. Maybe you really were scared of being with me and having people look at you suspiciously. But I don't want to believe that. I want to believe that you were a caring person who wanted to make someone happy. That's what I wanted to believe, and I wanted to return the favor.

But I guess in the end, I was just some kid. A kid with a weird dream that we shared. That's all I have left, that dream that we shared.

And just like my dreams, I wanted him to come to my rescue, just like how he always comes to rescue the girl, always fighting to be together. He was her hero and I was hoping you'd be my hero._

"Better not waste that battery," mocked Margaret.

"Oh, you're back!" he said as he put away his phone.

"Am I interrupting something? Maybe you're talking to your girlfriend behind my back?"

"Of course not," he told Margaret in a joking manner. "If anyone should be worried, it's me. Don't run away with the next man you see."

"Oh, Johan!" Margaret laughed.

"Well, now it's my turn to excuse myself. I'll be right back."

Upon leaving his seat and entering the restroom, he pulled out his phone again. Staring at the message, breathing heavily, 'For how long is the past going to haunt me? I just want to move on with my new life.' He closed Google chat and dragged the app icon on his screen. 'If I continue any more communication, I'm never going to let this go. I'm going to end up in big trouble by being with you. Forgive me Lucy, but this is the right thing to do. I told you what you have to do, so please get help and forget about me, because this can't go on anymore.' He dragged the icon to the uninstall section and released it. An empty slot now stood on his home screen.